Wealth for Mind, Body and Wallet

Why are clothes MORE expensive in China?

This question has bugged me for a while. While in Beijing last week, I shopped at Zara, GAP, and H&M, hoping to find SOMETHING from China to bring home.

I found NOTHING.

Bummed.

I was shocked that a simple $10 tee was $35. Everything was 30-40% MORE than home, why?

TAXES TAXES TAXES
*Chinese tax breaks on exports
（anything Made in China and shipped directly to the US is not taxed）.
*Chinese roads-most are toll
（it costs $8 to ship 2kg clothes via Chinese roads and only $2 to ship overseas to US）.
*Chinese tariffs on imports （If something is made in China, goes offshore and comes back, 10% tax penalty.）
*The value added tax or VAT is around 17% on clothes and can be as high as 40% on “luxuries” like cosmetics.

I thought I hadn’t been out in a while and maybe my price-meter was off.